


Hanging on the Telephone

by AmethystClearwater



Series: FMA one-shots [3]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Angst, Child Soldiers, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Innocent Al, Kinda?, Military, Precious Al, Soft Ed, Sweet Al, confused roy, listen there's some conspiracy stuff happening it gets worse in the second book, morally dubious roy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-03-02 19:55:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18817891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmethystClearwater/pseuds/AmethystClearwater
Summary: Roy gets a call. It's not for him.





	1. Chapter 1

It still boggled Roy’s mind, sometimes. When Elric was in the office, his small hand wrapped around a pen, bent over the paperwork he had been given. His legs swinging back and forth on the couch. 

This was a child. Not even in his teens yet, working for the military. Not just the military, but for Roy. Everytime he went on those mission that could kill him, everytime he got a bill from some hospital or another, It was because of him. He was the boy’s Commanding Officer after all. 

Oh, but the talent he has. It sung to his blood, whispering tales of the power he now possessed, being not only CO but acting guardian of this boy who wept miracles. Roy’s goal has always been the top, and with their beloved golden soldier boy, nothing seemed impossible. 

Still, Roy couldn’t bring himself to truly seem Elric as a weapon. He had even grown -dare he even entertain the notion- fond of him. He was powerful, yes, and Gods above knew he had seen his fair share of the true cruelty of the world, but there was still that bit of naivety. The child-like innocence that he had yet to fully shake from his mind.

It was this reason that Roy did not exploit the boy’s every weakness he had come across. Why he did not even add it to his list of vulnerabilities when the phone rang and a toddler’s voice drifted through.

“U-um, excuse me? Sir? Can I speak to Ed?” 

Roy blinked. What was he supposed to think? A child who sounded no older than 6 was calling his work phone at 8 pm on a tuesday. Asking for Ed of all people. Was some kind of orphan charity thing he’d gotten himself wrapped up in? Ed didn’t have any relatives left alive, so what-

“I uh… I can’t call him tonight like I’m s’posed to, an’ I know he doesn’t get home till 10-ish so…” The boy sounded like he was squirming. Had Roy been silent for too long?

“And may I ask who is speaking?” 

“Al.”

No further explanation. Okay then. He held a hand over the receiver and glanced up at Edward, still working on that report from last week’s disaster in Winfel.

“There’s someone on the line for you, Elric. Would you happen to know anyone by the name of Al?” The reaction was immediate. He shot up from his seat, uncaring of the startled glances from the team and snatched the phone up.

“Al, I thought I told you to call me from the hotel. Did you lose the number?’ Something was mumbled on the other side and Edward sighed. “Ok, that’s fine. We’ll have to make it quick though. And try not to make a habit of calling my bosses phone, yeah?”

They talk for a minute, either not noticing or not caring about the obvious audience, and hung up with a short, “Yeah, you too.”

He hung up the phone and had the decency to look sheepish. 

“Sorry, Mustang. A friend of mind likes to check up on me from time to time, but he’s got something to do tonight and didn’t want me to worry when he didn’t call. I know you’ve got a stick up your ass about yer phone, so it won’t happen again.” Then he spun on his heels, sat himself back own on the couch, and continued with his report like nothing had ever happened. 

That had almost sounded… respectful? Roy looked at his phone has if he could see this ‘friend’ of Edwards through the deadline. Just who was this person?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! I wrote another chapter instead of doing my Am. history project :D

After that, Roy began to watch Ed a bit closer than before. Of course he left the boy to his privacy. It Wouldn't do to have him avoid his CO all together. Roy simple… observed. Sat back and witnessed the little things he had missed before. Like the letters he was always writing to an unknown person, or the phone calls he made and received at a very frequent rate. 

Something surprised Roy, however, was how good with kids he was. 

It was hard to not think of Ed as just another kid when he was throwing a tantrum or refusing to drink his milk. But then there was a kid in the office (a favor for Maes who could handle a child abuse case, no problem, but never the child). It was a little girl, and suddenly Roy understood why his best friend could barely look at her. She was small, smaller than most four year olds her age, and had twin braids not unlike his little Elysia’s. 

She had spent the whole time on the couch, in the same spot Ed always sat, fiddling with the crayons they’d given her but not actually coloring with them. She seemed tired but refused to lay her head down and rest. All the unfamiliar faces surely were off-putting to the poor child.

Unfortunately, today was the day Ed was due for another veritable mountain of reports to catch up on, and so, in typical Ed fashion, kicked in the door like the raging lunatic he was. 

The little girl, Jessica, jumped with a whimper and brought her legs up, curling herself in a ball as if so appear smaller. Roy shot a glare towards Ed, paying he wouldn’t start shouting. The blonde stopped in his tracks when he spotted the girl in his seat. Roy stiffened, and almost had a heart attack when Ed began to stomp over to the girl.

“Edward, don’t-!”

But Ed didn’t yell. He didn’t even look particularly severe. Just soft, sad eyes turned on this cowering girl, mouth turned down slightly. 

“Hey there,” His voice was impossibly soft. Was this even Ed? “Sorry I startled ya, I didn't mean anythin’ by it. Wanna tell me your name, doll?”

Another thing Roy and his team had come to learn about Ed. While normally he was really good at imitating more of a Central accent -most likely to avoid odd stares and questions- when his voice went quiet and unguarded, as if no one was watching, his southern roots tended to come out. He also had a habit of talking like that when he was a round Havoc, given he shared the southern disposition. 

The little girl looked up at Ed, fear evident in her body language and expression. When she finally decided to speak, it was nothing more than a tiny whisper.

“Jessie.” 

Ed smiled softly, and nodded his head in acknowledgment. “That’s a very pretty name. I’m Ed, but that grumpy old man over there always calls be brat.”

Jessie startled with a hiccuping giggle, like she couldn’t believe he had just said that. About an adult. 

Roy couldn’t even find it in himself to be mad. 

-

They talked for a little while longer, childish jokes and games came easily to Edward, keeping the little girl entertained until one of her case workers came back for her to take her to her aunt's house. 

Ed remained quiet after that, working on his reports without even the customary complaining.

He didn’t reclaim his favorite spot.

And if Roy let it slip to Maes how well Ed did with kids, if Maes began using Ed as his personal child-soother.

Well, that was neither here nor there.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A letter from Al to his big brother ;)

Dear Ed, 

I hope this gets to you soon. I know we usually call every day (or couple of days if you’re out fighting bad guys) but the power’s gone out in the whole town! No one’s phone is working right now. I know you don’t like to write because of your arm, but I figured they have a typewriter up in central for you to use. They’re so rich up there, they’re probably just throwing them away they’ve got so many!

I hope your shoulder is feeling well. Granny saw in the newspaper that there was a really bad storm up that way. They say it n early took out a building! I know your shoulder and leg get sore when it rains, so I’d imagine this time it hurt a lot. And I know you like to rush in and help anytime there’s trouble, so I don’t doubt you ignored it to help others in the storm. Granny says if you don’t rest it’ll stunt your growth (more than it already is). 

Winry made some really good blackberry cobbler for the fair this year. She let me try it before anybody else cause I helped make some of them! I was sad at you didn’t get to go this year, but Winry said you’d make you one all for yourself next time you came to visit. That made me really happy. I hope you get to come visit too.

I’ve been playing a lot with the boy from down the road. His name is Danny, and he said he was from the North, but when his parents died he had to go live with his grandparents in the South. He’s always complaining about how hot it is and all the bugs and dirty animals running around everywhere. I told him that there aren’t really that many animals running a muck, cause if there was our farmers wouldn’t be very smart ones. He yelled at me and wouldn’t talk to me for three days, but he came back around when he started failing his math homework again. He’s not very smart, but he doesn’t give my eyes funny looks,and he doesn’t call me dirty like some of the other kids do. 

Granny showed me how to make that stew you love so much. She said I had mother’s touch. I don’t think she really meant to say it, cause she got really quiet right after, and sniffed a bunch like she was trying not to cry.

I’m gonna make it for you when you visit, and Winry will make cobbler, and Miss Nelly who sells those pretty flowers will probably make you flower cakes. You’ll have so much food that you’ll have to stay for a long time!

I really miss you, Eddie. Sometimes I dream that we travel together. That I get to fight bad guys with you and do your magic too.

But for some reason, I’m always so cold in those dreams. I’m taller too, like I was the older brother instead.

I don’t think I wanna be the older brother. Then you couldn’t hold me when I get scared. 

I hope you get to visit soon. I’ll be practicing my cooking until you get here!

With all my love,  
Al <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next one might be the last, idk. let me know what you guys think


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter guys. Thank you for sticking with me as long as you did <3 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!

Roy tapped Edward’s phone.

No, it most certainly was not reasonable.Yes, this was a child he was invading the privacy of. The reason?

Curiosity.

In Roy’s defense, he was extremely drunk when he made the call. Fuery even refused at first, but when his CO began rambling about the child’s safety and how closed off he was and “How am I possibly to know if he’s actually talking to some friend or if it’s a Drachman spy prying on the innocent heart of an 11 year old!?” 

Eventually, Fuery caved. Like he always did. 

See, the thing about Ed is that, despite his erratic lifestyle, when the situation allows he is, by nature, a creature of habit. Like how he always wears the same thing to work even though he has no uniform he is technically required to wear. Why his hair is always in a braid, and why he always gets the same thing when he decided to eat at the canteen (Brussels sprouts and the biggest steak they have). 

So it comes to no surprise that Ed always uses the phone booth on the corner of East Chaplin and Franklin street. He grabs a sandwich from Carol’s Cafe, eats at Central Park under the dogwood tree, then heads over to the phone booth and talks for around two hours. Sometimes he’ll stay longer, but never shorter unless there’s an emergency. 

A few months ago Ed spent two whole weeks without a single phone call. Roy knew he was writing to them though. In fact, this was what sparked the raging urge to figure out who the mystery “friend” was.

One day, Falman was sent to the library to fetch Edward, who was late to his debriefing for the next mission. What he found was the young alchemist typing away to his heart’s content on the public typewriter. 

Now, This in and of itself was not strange. People used typewriters all the time. No, was was strange was that in all the time Roy had known the boy, he had a stubborn streak to rival anyone. He had adamantly refused to ever use a typewriter for his reports, purely on principle. 

Roy came to terms with this. Until Falman came back reporting news of their favorite double digit midget not only going back on his word, but presumably for some person Ed’s never even willingly talked about. Not even to Hughes, and everyone could see how the man had practically become a father to the kid. 

Roy was pissed.

So, naturally, he did what any sane person would do. He had his number one tech-savvy soldier tap the kids usual phone, gathered the office up (for observational purposes of course) and listened in. 

What they heard was not what they had been expecting.

-

Ed was having a pretty good day. He had just finished up his reports yesterday, meaning he was free for another few weeks to go about his missions in peace. Carol gave him a complimentary slice of apple pie, for being such a loyal customer, she said. Though he suspected it had something to do with how he fixed up half the block (including her cafe) during the storm clean-up. 

The dogwood had been a lovely shade, as usual, and he’d even got to see Gracia and Elysia. The little tyke was so tiny, it reminded him of when Al was that small. 

Speaking of…

He only had to wait a few minutes for the little old lady on the phone to finish up before dialing his favorite number and hearing the excited voice of his favorite person.

“Big Brother!” 

It had Ed laugh to hear him answer like that. “Do ya always answer the phone like that? What if it hadn’t been me?” He hear Al make a ‘harumph’ sound, and he laughed some more.

“I knew it would be you though. This is when you always call.” There was the sound of somebody yelling in the background. “Winry says hi and that you better visit soon before blackberry season is gone.”

The thought of a hot, home-cooked meal had Ed’s mouth watering, despite having just eaten. 

“Oh man, is it that time of year already?” He faked dramatics. “Gosh, I better hurry my butt home, huh?”

“Yeah, you’d better!” Al was getting excited again. He knew what Ed was doing.

“Then… I guess it’s a good thing my next stop is in the South. I can probably afford to make a quick pit stop in town.” 

There was a high pitch squeal and he had to move the phone away from his ear. The pipes on that kid, damn!

“But!” Al gasped. “I’ll still have to run it by the Colonel first. Don’t want ‘im comin’ after me again like last time.” 

“Oh, alriiiight.” Al sounded a little bummed, but he would survive. He quickly recovered and started recalling a story about all the wonders of baking.

“-and then we put just a tiiiiny bit of the secret ingredient, and of goodness, brother! It was so amazing! I can’t wait for you to try it!”

“Heh, sounds like you’re gunna stuff me like a turkey when I come to visit. You tryin’ to fatten me up? Making ME into a pie!?” The tinkling of Al’s giggle was music to Edward’s ears. He really did adore his baby brother.

“Eddie! No!” 

They laughed like that for a bit, joked around. Al gave updates on Winry’s automail. Ed talked about the Hugheses and told him they’d have to meet if Al was ever in central (not that Ed really wanted his little brother in the area, but a boy could dream.

“You’re eating all of your vegetables? Playing nice with the kids at school? Winry told me you had a little tussle with the Bakers’ boy.”

“He was pickin’ on Sam again! Just ‘cause she likes to wear overalls and cuts her hair short. It’s summer, her neck is probably hot!” 

Ed chuckled. Of course it for someone else. Al was too precious.

“I’m glad you wanted to stand up for her, but next time instead of getting yourself hurt, couldn’t you go to your teacher and explain what was happening?” Al already got picked on enough as it is. Ed didn't forget the jabs and the fights he was subjected to just because of bigoted beliefs that were never corrected after the war.

“I did. She just said ‘boys will be boys’.” Well that just wouldn’t do.

“Hm. Don’t worry Al, I’ll see what I can do. Just let me know if he comes causin’ anymore trouble, yeah?”

“Okay! You’re the best Eddie!” Ed smirked, amused.

Al was quiet for a minute, then...

“Granny fixed up mom’s piano.” 

The words were small, quiet. Like he was scared of his big brother’s reaction. He was glad Al couldn’t see his face.

“Al…” He didn’t know what to say. “You know I got this metal arm and-”

“I’ve seen you do it before!” Oh boy. Sounds like he’s been caught. “Even when it was broken! I- I saw you hit the keys just fine. So… Please big brother…” His voice sounded wet, and Ed felt his chest fill with misery for making his brother upset like this.

“Al… if you want… I guess I could play something when I come visit.” He knew his voice was straining with the effort to say those words, but he hoped his brother would be too young to pick up on it.

Al’s voice lit up with hope. “You mean it?” He hadn’t noticed.

“Yeah. Yeah, I mean it.” He paused. The atmosphere became thick as memories floated in his mind. “Just make sure I get all the cobbler I want as a reward, eh?” He attempted to change the mood. Al giggled and agreed.

Ed took out his watch. It’d been a little over two hours. He should hed back soon.

“It’s about time for me to be headin’ back. Don’t want any of ‘em worryin’ bout me.” Al whined a bit, but he was used to the abrupt ends at this point. “Ok. I love you Eddie. Come home soon!”

“Love you too.”

-

Roy sat back, stared at the speaker, and sighed.

The office was still. No one moved. No one expected that.

“That was…” Fuery couldn’t finish his thought.

“He sounded like a parent,, right?” Havoc had awe in his tone. He said what most were thinking. It seemed to break the spell.

“I didn’t know he had a little brother.”

“He never talks like that when he’s in the office. Think he does that on purpose?”

“Ed plays piano?”

“I’ve never heard him laugh like that before…”

Roy creased his brow, thinking. The good news was that this actually wasn’t any kind of bad person praying on a naive little boy in the military. On the other hand…

“I feel dirty.” 

They all looked at Breda. “I mean, I know we did it with good intentions, I just-”

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

Roy stood at those words. They all looked to him. He saw Hawkeye’s eyes for the first time. They were hard and cold like steel. She hadn’t approved of this from the start.

“No one is to speak a word of this to Fullmetal. We made a formal investigation with suspicion of nefarious activity. It will go under file as such. Dismissed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said this was the last one, but I miiiight wanna make a sequel. There are some things that I set up to be this big reveal drama kinda thing, but didn’t get to it. 
> 
> Here’s a deal: if this thing gets up to 10 comments saying I should, then I’ll continue the au.
> 
> Edit: also, I’d like to hear some theories. I’m curious as to what you guys think is gunna happen next. What’s the deal with Al? Why is Ed basically hiding him from Roy? PIANO!? Gimme your thoughts.


End file.
